Half Moon
by OnceUponANaley
Summary: Alex has been out of town for work for one month and she is coming home in two days. This is a simple one shot that allows you to experience the anticipation Piper feels as she waits for Alex's arrival.


**Hey ****everyone I am finally back with another one shot. I actually wrote this a few months ago but wasn't content with the way it turned out. After putting it away for a while and revisiting it I am now ready to share it with all of you lovelys. **

**I wanted to thank all of you that have followed or favorited my work, it really means a lot to know that people enjoy the madness that consumes my brain. This isn't a fancy story, just something I have been working on. I hope you guys enjoy it! **

"One, two, three…" an olive went flying in the air and Piper caught it with her open mouth. She threw her hands in the air and jumped up and down while chewing on the green olive. "Alright Piper. What are you two for three?"

"Yup, I'm getting pretty good at this." Piper said with a bright smile.

It was 11:45pm on a late October Thursday and Piper was enjoying downtime with her coworker Travis. They were bartenders at a hip and upcoming bar in Manhattan and tonight was slower than expected so they goofed off.

Travis is 25 years old, only two years older than Piper and they got on fantastically. He sported a short brown hair cut that normally looked like he just woke up and a well-kept beard. He had a sleeve of tattoos on his left arm and a few others in various spots on his body. Travis is a very attractive man. Girls would always come to the bar and wait for him to free up even if Piper wasn't with a customer and offered to get them something. He had gone home with a few girls after a long night of bartending but he was a sweet guy and never tried to play games with the girls he liked.

Piper started working at Half Moon about three months ago and Travis had asked her out a few times, but she let him know that she was in a committed relationship. After a few weeks Travis had become content with them being just friends and had begun asking her advice on girls that he was seeing. Piper deemed him her work husband and they hadn't had any problems or awkward moments since.

"Why are you in such a good mood tonight? You have been sulking around here for weeks and all of a sudden you are skipping around here like a school girl with a crush." Travis coyly asked Piper as he cleaned a glass

She looked up at him briefly then looked away so he wouldn't see her blushing.

"Alex is coming back in three days. I got an email this morning to be at the airport on Sunday at 8:30 am." Piper said bashfully "Im so excited!"

"That's great, I have yet to meet this Alex. I was starting to think it was someone you made up in your head."

"Alex is a real person. I cant believe its been a month" Piper said in disbelief then shook herself and squealed in pure joy.

"You know you guys are kind of alike" she continued.

"You are both tall, have dark hair, tattoo's and listen to music that are twice your age. I guess that's why you're my work husband."

"Lets do something once he gets back. Like a double date, so I can finally see the person that keeps you so strung out" Travis proposed.

Piper was just about to respond to Travis when her phone rang. She held up a finger asking him to give her a minute of privacy. It was Polly and the bar was so slow she decided that she could answer. She went to the back for some privacy.

The night carried on, it picked up around 12 and Piper was able to make a good amount of tips. It was now 2:30 am and she had just gotten off the subway and was headed home. She thought about Alex and how she always begged her to take a cab when it was so late. Piper wished she could out of respect for her girlfriend but a cab wasn't in the budget for tonight. She only had three blocks to go so she picked up her pace and held on to her clutch as she trekked on.

Once she made it into the apartment, safe and sound, she took a shower and got ready for bed. Piper had a place with her best friend Polly and she had been spending a lot more time home now that Alex was gone. Polly mocked her all the time saying that she wouldn't be treated as left overs and she only came around because Alex was gone. On the inside Piper knew it was true but didn't want to admit it. Besides Polly just started dating this guy Pete and she was always with him, it was a two way street.

Once she was ready for bed she reached into a duffle bag and pulled out one of Alex's t-shirts. Alex left her the keys to her place and told her she could stay there whenever she missed her. Piper scoffed when Alex said this because she knew there wouldn't be a moment when she didn't miss her. From her skillful fingers to mysterious eyes, there was not one thing she did not miss. About three days after Alex left, Piper went to her fancy West Village apartment to try and gain a feel for Alex. She drank her favorite wine, put on her signature leather black jacket, played her favorite record and read one of her all time favorite book, Anthony Burgess' "A Clockwork Orange". Sadly, it didn't work and just made her miss her more. Piper cried that night, she felt stupid. She had never felt so strongly about a single person in her whole entire twenty-three years of existence, and she missed her terribly. It had only been three days since Alex's departure and she was crying like a spoiled little girl.

In the mist of her tears Piper began to laugh hysterically. In their short four months of dating she felt like she knew her girlfriend in and out. She was laughing because she imagined Alex walking in on her and what she would say if she saw her in such a state. After she pulled herself together, she packed a bag of Alex's belongings and brought them to her Prospect Park abode. Two weeks later, Piper struggled to retrieve Alex's scent from her faded band cover t-shirts, so she journeyed back to Alex's place to get a fresh bag.

Piper laid in bed physically exhausted but couldn't sleep because she was overwhelmed with emotion knowing that her girlfriend was coming back in two days now. Memories of their time together flooded her mind. Memories from their first encounters, memories tinged in sunlight and laugher soothed her and at last she began to drift off to sleep. Piper slept soundly that night, dreaming of the first time Alex told her she loved her. They had only been dating for two months but it felt right to the both of them.

That Friday Piper went out and bought groceries to make Alex her favorite breakfast on Sunday and then a big Sunday dinner. After eating out every night she was sure that Alex would want something made from home. She went back to Alex's house and put the items away and began to clean up around the apartment. It wasn't a mess because Piper rarely went by but she dusted and vacuumed. She lit a few candles and even adjusted the thermostat. Anything she thought she could do to make Alex adjust back to life in New York she did it.

Later that night she went to work and it was a packed house. She and Travis along with the other bartenders were so slammed that they barely had time to say two words to each other. At the end of the night she went home, prepared for bed and crashed….hard.

The next morning Piper woke up still feeling tired. The only thing that helped her feel alive was knowing that Alex would be there tomorrow. Today would be the day that Piper spent preparing herself for her loves arrival.

She had a wax appointment in a few hours that she wasn't excited about but knew it had to be done. She was going to do a deep body scrub (that she and Polly made themselves) and then get a mani and pedi later in the evening right before work.

After her day of pampering, Piper walked into the bar and received catcalls and whistles from Travis.

"Oh stop it!" Piper said embarrassed.

Piper always looked good to Travis but tonight she had a glow. Her hair was bone straight, she had on a red lipstick that screamed vixen and her a confident demeanor topped it all off. Travis leaned back against the bar and watched her as she came around. She had on skinny jeans, a black v-neck top, a sleek cargo jacket and leather booties. She coupled this Vogue inspired apparel with a few rings, gold bracelet and earrings set that finalized her sex appeal.

"I must say Ms. Chapman you look stunning tonight." Travis said as he took her hand and placed a kiss on it. "Is this all in the spirit of Alex?"

"It is, I just want everything to be perfect. So we can go back to where we were a month ago."

"That shouldn't be a problem, believe me" he retorted with lust in his eyes.

"Hopefully, we don't have another crazy night. I have to be up early to meet Alex and I don't want to look like a zombie." Piper said

"It will probably be the normal Saturday night crowd. No rage-rs just people stopping in for drinks on their dates. You should be good."

After two hours of a slow night Travis and Piper had time to talk. It was 1:15am and Piper had her back leaned against the bar while Travis sipped on a beer.

He asked her questions about her relationship with Alex. Starting off with basic questions like how they met, where they went on the first date and other generic questions…

"So you guys were saying I love you early on, how long did it take you to have sex.?"

Piper belted out a loud laugh, and confessed to Travis that they actually had sex the night they met and it was amazing. She even told him that she was attacked by a girl because Alex was in a "complicated" relationship.

"After that mishap, we officially started to date and had sex non stop. I couldn't get enough. There was this one night when I came seven times." Piper admitted as she covered her face and laughed. Piper surprised herself by how candid and revealing these details were to her coworker.

"Jesus Christ, seven times?!" Travis said with his mouth agape "What am I doing wrong?" Travis questioned aloud but more so to himself

"Honestly its love. I have never enjoyed sex so much with anyone in my life." The door to the bar opened but Piper didn't noticed because her back was to the door. Travis was going to greet the patron but quickly quieted himself when the person, put their index finger to their lip telling him to stay quite. The person slowly walked up to the bar and sat at a stool.

Piper continued on with her rant all while this was happening "It's like when were together, I cant see or hear anyone or anything. We could be in the middle of Time's Square, surrounded by millions of people, and all I can see is Alex. I have never felt so strongly about anyone in my life. When I wake up that's who is instantly on my mind and when I go to bed our memories are my last thoughts. Sometimes I feel crazy, no one has ever consumed my entire being like this before, consuming my physical, emotional and mental state. Sometimes I hate that I'm so deeply in love because it hurts so damn badly to be without that person. About two weeks ago I broke down over the color of Alex's eye. I couldn't remember and I was devastated. " Piper let out a sigh "Anyway all I know is that tomorrow will be one of the best days of my life all because I get to hug the love of my life."

"My eyes are green" Alex finally spoke up in a low and sultry voice

Piper froze. She knew that voice and felt her heart began to beat hard in her chest, so hard she could hear it loudly and questioned if she was the only one. Piper wanted so desperately to muster up enough strength to turn around to confirm her hopes and fears but she was scared that she was psyching herself out, and Alex wasn't actually there. She had goosebumps and slowly turned around. Her icy blue eyes met the piercing green ones she had been longing for. Piper put her hands to her face and gasped. She could feel the tears forming in her eyes as she looked on at her girlfriend.

"Get over here and give the love of your life a hug" Alex said as she stood up from the bar stool.

Piper slowly started to walk to the end of the bar still in shock. Once she rounded the corner and saw Alex standing in front of her she knew she wasn't dreaming. She stopped, stared at her and the began to walk to Alex. Her walk immediately turned into a light jog and she leaped into Alex's arms and threw her entire body onto her, causing Alex to take a few steps back to catch her balance. After a few moments of holding on to their tight embrace Piper began to place kisses anywhere she could on Alex, eventually finding her lips.

When their lips finally met they both put all of their passion into this moment. All the pain they both felt over the past month was in this kiss. Piper had a few tears sliding down her face and Alex broke their kiss to wipe them.

"Stop, your going to make me cry. Did I surprise you?" Alex asked the still overwhelmed blonde.

" Yes Al, I wasn't expecting you until tomorrow. I'm so happy. I'm sorry I'm crying, Im such a brat, I just missed you so much."

"I missed you too babe" Alex professed as she pulled Piper back in for a hug.

All the while Travis was standing in shock. This entire time he didn't know that Alex was a woman. He automatically assumed that Alex was a man.

After they kissed one more time Piper remembered that Travis was there. Holding Alex's hand, she pulled her back to the bar and introduced the two.

"Travis this is Alex, Alex this is my work husband Travis"

"Nice to finally meet you. You are all Piper talks about." Travis said breaking from his spell.

"Nice to meet you too. Ive heard a lot about you as well."

"Can I get you something? Whiskey and ginger ale? Piper has told me at least 20 times that it's your favorite."

Alex looked at Piper with a tilted head and a coy smile at hearing that Piper talks about her non stop and then kissed her neck.

"Yes Travis that would be great."

When Travis went to make her drink ,Alex and Piper sat down at the bar. Piper wanted to be intwined with Alex and slipped her fingers into Alex's, a perfect fit.

"Don't ever leave me again. I missed you so much" Piper said with a pout.

Alex kissed her temple three times. She knew she couldn't promise that to Piper but for right now she would say anything to make the girl in front of her feel comfort.

"Next time I will take you with me. I missed you and I love you so much."

"I love you too" Piper said.

**So thats it! No smutt, some fluff, but mostly just...idk lol. If you are moved to review I would really ****appreciate**** the feedback. Stay tuned for more stories. I currently have 25 stories sitting in my OITNB folder on my macbook. Most of them are for a story with multiple chapters but I am going to ****try and get some more work out there more often. **


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